Lady Gaga addresses 'being a man' rumour: Didn't feel like a victim with that lie

Lady Gaga breaks silence on rumours from her early career that she is a man on Bill Gates' new show. She also shared why she did not care to dismiss the rumours.

In Short

• Lady Gaga addressed long-standing rumours about her gender on Bill Gates' Netflix show
• She explained her decision to remain silent
• The singer shared how she used misinformation to create disruptive points

Singer Lady Gaga has finally addressed the long-standing rumours from her early career that she was a man. In the second episode of What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, the pop star explained her decision to remain silent on the matter. She recalled how she had been bombarded with such questions during her global tours and media appearances.

The Bad Romance singer mentioned how she "didn't feel like a victim" amid the swirling claims and, therefore, didn’t feel the need to address the rumour until she finally cleared the air on the Netflix show that premiered on Wednesday, September 18.

Talking to Bill Gates, Lady Gaga said," In my early twenties, there was a rumour that I was a man. I went all over the world, travelled for tours for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in, they said, 'You know, there's this rumour that you're a man. What do you have to say about that?'."

Gaga then shared, "The reason I didn't answer the question was because I didn't feel like a victim with that lie. I thought, 'what about a kid that's being accused of that?' They would think a public figure like me would feel shame. I've been in situations where fixing a rumour was not in the best interest of the well-being of other people. So in that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way."

"I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point. People, I think, assume that someone like me who performs, my performance is what's not real. But to me, that's the most real thing that you'll see about me. That is so much more real than all the rumours that are designed to orbit me to gain more clicks," the Bloody Mary singer further added.

The clip from the show quickly became a viral sensation on the internet, with fans praising the singer's approach to handling controversy, her thoughtful actions, and her honesty.

The rumour started doing the rounds after a picture from the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, where some pointed out a bulge in her costume. Gaga often responded to these rumours with sarcasm or indifference, emphasising that her fans were not concerned with her gender.

To push back against and defy these expectations, Gaga embraced the drag king persona of Jo Calderone. She adopted this alter ego for multiple high-profile appearances, including a Vogue cover shoot and hosting the VMAs. She continued to flaunt her cigar-smoking fictional male character in the You and I music video from her 2011 album Born This Way.